


it's not that easy

by ohadeline



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Davos - POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 08:20:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohadeline/pseuds/ohadeline
Summary: Red is her colour. Now everything is engulfed by it and her eyes are closed.





	it's not that easy

Davos is a man of mercy - he is not a fighter or an avenger. He has seen enough of people who hold grudges and who keep on to the same horrors and sorrows to know he is not one of them. So when he sees Melisandre of Asshai, lying there in blood, _almost_ breathing, _almost_ living, _almost_ on the verge of turning back to life, he does not feel anything but heartache.  
In another life, he could still be a smuggler and meet her on the shores of a faraway land.

-

He hasn’t thought of her, he realizes, as human before that moment. A witch, they told, a priestess, a seer- she has not been a woman in his eyes. Yet she is. She is merely a human, and not a cruel one, but only a fool one - a fool with eyes blinded with her belief, with her visions - but not a cruel one, no. Someone who has done what she thought was to be done. He admires her for a brief moment, despite Shireen, despite Stannis, despite all the grief she has caused. She could be so blind to burn a kid, a sweet, kind, smiling kid. But she would not do it for her own benefit, would she? She has believed in a greater good - Varys told him about the “ice and fire”. He would execute her himself, had he seen her there.  
Red is her colour. Now everything is engulfed by it and her eyes are closed.

-

Does she have a relative in Asshai? Another priest or priestess, who would be willing to carry out the services? They will burn her, he thinks. 

-

“Davos…” she attemtps, as everything in King’s Landing turns to havoc, as the victory of King's Landing is near, as the dragons scream, as the Kingslayer becomes Queenslayer, and as arrows fly around. That’s where he catches her - in the background of the dragonpit, silent, ever so silent, despite the loudness her presence brings. She is shot.  
“Stop,” he says, almost orders, as Gendry flies past him with his hammer. “Once this chaos is over, I will take you to the maes-”  
“I am sorry,” she says.  
He is stunned for a moment and he is glad she cannot see.  
“I am sorry for Shireen and Stannis.”  
“You don’t get to say sorry and be forgiven, you know,” he says, not believing in his own voice. “You will have to repent.”  
A small smile plays on her lips. Not vicious, not witch-like. Just like a human being on the brink of death.  
“I am sorry.”

-

He wants to ask: if you do not care for the few people you have hurt, how are you working on the greater good? He wants to ask: don’t you start on the greater good by caring for the few? He wants to ask: how could you kill a child? He wants to ask: what have you done? He wants to ask: are you hurting?  
He has never been shot - does it make the body go numb? Is she in tremendous pain right now? If she is, _good_. Shireen must have felt horrified and her skin burning - if Melisandre is choking on her own blood, _good_.

**Author's Note:**

> I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS! I get visions like Melisandre the woman herself, apparently, so it just seemed reasonable to make Davos witness her death. And I do love both characters with all my heart and have thought their interactions to be very interesting. I don't care for them as a couple more than I care for them as friends or at least teammates (Stannis, Jon&Daenerys, or anything really!) but I also think it has a certain appeal. On another note, I hate Melisandre for Shireen and fully understand that Davos will never, ever will hold a conversation with Melisandre save for her death, maybe. So this was kind of me toying with that idea, and exploring their dynamic. Some neat lines have come from that vision of mine, so I thought I'd share.


End file.
